Strida EVO hill climbing abilities
Update seventh attempt, July 7th 2013
With my seventh attempt at climbing this hill I felt much stronger, maybe it was because near the beginning I noticed someone on a road bike trying to catch me and giving up and turning back down the hill. It is a very good feeling to be 58 years old and be able to see progress with training, I have decided to alternate my climbing with long flat rides. This week I timed my first flat ride, 34 km with a average of 24 km/h on the Strida EVO, but long time trails with the EVO are going to be a future post.
With the seventh attempt I was not able to reach the top, I did go farther and faster and higher but not over the top. I also began to have thoughts that maybe I am not going to be able to ride over the top of this hill. After I stopped and slowed down my heart rate I thought I would try and continue on just to check the grade and distance to the top, I should not have been surprised when I was unable to start again up the hill as the grade at this point was too steep. I tried again by going down the hill and turning up but the loose gravel and the grade made this very difficult as well and I had to stop or fall off the Strida.
Here is the link to the ride as recorded by my phone app and Strava. 398 meters gained, 5.1 km, 7.7 km.h average, 39.41 mins. 465 calories burned.
Update, sixth attempt, June 30th 2013
Weather is much better so I thought for my sixth attempt I would start earlier in the day. I should have started a little earlier than I did because when I got as far as I could, I still have not made the top, the temperature was 30 c. I was able to climb another 50 meters further than before. The last section is straight and steep with a 10 % grade and with no relief from a switch back.
The Strida EVO has slowly developed a creaking noise from the rear section and the bolt that holds the bottom tube. It started with my first attempt and I attributed the cause to the rain and wet, I was hoping it was going to go away but as I continue to stress the bike climbing this hill the noise has increased in volume. I was able to solve the problem with the help of this thread in the Strida forum, I removed the bolt and cleaned the plastic washer and frame pieces. I was not able to polish them as I didn’t have anything fine enough to attempt this. I resembled and the creaking noise is mostly gone. I plan on doing this again and polishing the rough edges and also applying the suggested neverseez product.
Here is the ride link as recorded by phone app and Strava. 350 meters gained, 4.5 km, 7.4 km/h average, 36.27 mins. 420 calories burned, I think it is time for lunch, Bill
Update, Fifth attempt with with phone app, June 26 2013
Weather has been bad with rain most days, time fly’s and more than a week has gone by since I last rode this hill. I have also installed an app in my phone so that I can track and share my progress. The app is by Strava and this post is part of my learning cycle. I started up the hill this afternoon but my body soon started telling me that today was not the day to try for the top, instead I made a quick agreement with my tired body that we would only push to the end of the pavement, check out this app and try for the top another day. Here are the results as recorded by my phone and the Strava app,
And here is a link to my ride home, I haven’t had a speedometer on my Strida EVO before so the top speed of 47.2 km/h was a surprise. I need to learn how to embed the file in the this blog, maybe next time.
I have also discovered you may need to open a free account with Striva to be able to view all of the results.
June 16th 2013
My project this Spring is to explore the Strida EVO hill climbing abilities of this 3 speed folding bike. For my Strida EVO hill climbing project I am using a store demo Strida EVO with 18 inch wheels that is also equipped with an alloy chain wheel and the Strida bended handle bars. I did consider 16 inch wheels as it would make the climbing easier but for regular riding I would like the faster 18 inch wheels. Of course hill climbing is not just about the bike, I have been using this project to push myself into better shape and I think there is no better way than to ride continually up a steep hill. Hardy mountain is a climb of 400 meters, about half on pavement and half on gravel. I have not measured the distance yet but I will update with some accurate numbers. I think it is about 5 km with the steeper grades of 12 % and the average of 7 or 8 %. My first attempt in what turned out to be a rain and hail storm had me stopping half way up the pavement at about 1. 5 km, to slow down my heart rate and have a drink water while standing under a dry tree. I then continued up the rest of the pavement section to a height of 170 meters and was pleased but knew I could do it without stopping the next try.
With attempt two I did succeed in climbing the 170 meters on the pavement section without stopping. For my third attempt I decided that I would see how the Strida EVO hill climbing would do on the loose gravel so I climbed another 50 meters and .5 km on the gravel. The small 18 inch wheels of the EVO did O.K. but coming down the hill on the gravel was slower than the pavement section. I did decide with the third attempt the top section of gravel was possible for the Strida EVO to climb.
Strida EVO and valley view
My fourth attempt with my Strida EVO hill climbing went very well, I was able to climb to the 350 meter height and another 2 km on the gravel section. With this fourth attempt I was able to control my heart rate on the easier sections and put more effort into the steeper switch back corners. There are some of these corners where keeping the front wheel on the ground becomes difficult, I think this is where the Strida bended handle bars provide an advantage. Map of Hardy Mountain Road, This photo above from my fourth attempt is very close to the letter A on the map. Google street view ends with the pavement section. Stay tuned for attempt number five!
